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Wu CY, Davis S, Saudagar N, Shah S, Zhao W, Stern A, Martel J, Ojcius D, Yang HC. Caenorhabditis elegans as a Convenient Animal Model for Microbiome Studies. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:6670. [PMID: 38928375 PMCID: PMC11203780 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25126670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2024] [Revised: 06/13/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Microbes constitute the most prevalent life form on Earth, yet their remarkable diversity remains mostly unrecognized. Microbial diversity in vertebrate models presents a significant challenge for investigating host-microbiome interactions. The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans has many advantages for delineating the effects of host genetics on microbial composition. In the wild, the C. elegans gut contains various microbial species, while in the laboratory it is usually a host for a single bacterial species. There is a potential host-microbe interaction between microbial metabolites, drugs, and C. elegans phenotypes. This mini-review aims to summarize the current understanding regarding the microbiome in C. elegans. Examples using C. elegans to study host-microbe-metabolite interactions are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng-Yeu Wu
- Center for Molecular and Clinical Immunology, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan; (C.-Y.W.); (J.M.)
| | - Scott Davis
- Department of Endodontics, Arthur Dugoni School of Dentistry, University of the Pacific, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA;
| | - Neekita Saudagar
- Doctor of Dental Surgery Program, Arthur Dugoni School of Dentistry, University of the Pacific, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA; (N.S.); (S.S.); (W.Z.)
| | - Shrey Shah
- Doctor of Dental Surgery Program, Arthur Dugoni School of Dentistry, University of the Pacific, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA; (N.S.); (S.S.); (W.Z.)
| | - William Zhao
- Doctor of Dental Surgery Program, Arthur Dugoni School of Dentistry, University of the Pacific, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA; (N.S.); (S.S.); (W.Z.)
| | - Arnold Stern
- Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY 10016, USA;
| | - Jan Martel
- Center for Molecular and Clinical Immunology, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan; (C.-Y.W.); (J.M.)
| | - David Ojcius
- Center for Molecular and Clinical Immunology, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan; (C.-Y.W.); (J.M.)
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Arthur Dugoni School of Dentistry, University of the Pacific, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA
| | - Hung-Chi Yang
- Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Yuanpei University of Medical Technology, Hsinchu 30041, Taiwan
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Yoon S, Kilicarslan You D, Jeong U, Lee M, Kim E, Jeon TJ, Kim SM. Microfluidics in High-Throughput Drug Screening: Organ-on-a-Chip and C. elegans-Based Innovations. BIOSENSORS 2024; 14:55. [PMID: 38275308 PMCID: PMC10813408 DOI: 10.3390/bios14010055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
The development of therapeutic interventions for diseases necessitates a crucial step known as drug screening, wherein potential substances with medicinal properties are rigorously evaluated. This process has undergone a transformative evolution, driven by the imperative need for more efficient, rapid, and high-throughput screening platforms. Among these, microfluidic systems have emerged as the epitome of efficiency, enabling the screening of drug candidates with unprecedented speed and minimal sample consumption. This review paper explores the cutting-edge landscape of microfluidic-based drug screening platforms, with a specific emphasis on two pioneering approaches: organ-on-a-chip and C. elegans-based chips. Organ-on-a-chip technology harnesses human-derived cells to recreate the physiological functions of human organs, offering an invaluable tool for assessing drug efficacy and toxicity. In parallel, C. elegans-based chips, boasting up to 60% genetic homology with humans and a remarkable affinity for microfluidic systems, have proven to be robust models for drug screening. Our comprehensive review endeavors to provide readers with a profound understanding of the fundamental principles, advantages, and challenges associated with these innovative drug screening platforms. We delve into the latest breakthroughs and practical applications in this burgeoning field, illuminating the pivotal role these platforms play in expediting drug discovery and development. Furthermore, we engage in a forward-looking discussion to delineate the future directions and untapped potential inherent in these transformative technologies. Through this review, we aim to contribute to the collective knowledge base in the realm of drug screening, providing valuable insights to researchers, clinicians, and stakeholders alike. We invite readers to embark on a journey into the realm of microfluidic-based drug screening platforms, fostering a deeper appreciation for their significance and promising avenues yet to be explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunhee Yoon
- Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea; (S.Y.); (D.K.Y.); (M.L.); (E.K.)
| | - Dilara Kilicarslan You
- Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea; (S.Y.); (D.K.Y.); (M.L.); (E.K.)
| | - Uiechan Jeong
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea
| | - Mina Lee
- Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea; (S.Y.); (D.K.Y.); (M.L.); (E.K.)
| | - Eunhye Kim
- Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea; (S.Y.); (D.K.Y.); (M.L.); (E.K.)
| | - Tae-Joon Jeon
- Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea; (S.Y.); (D.K.Y.); (M.L.); (E.K.)
- Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea
- Biohybrid Systems Research Center (BSRC), Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea
| | - Sun Min Kim
- Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea; (S.Y.); (D.K.Y.); (M.L.); (E.K.)
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea
- Biohybrid Systems Research Center (BSRC), Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea
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Viri V, Cornaglia M, Atakan HB, Lehnert T, Gijs MAM. An in vivo microfluidic study of bacterial transit in C. elegans nematodes. LAB ON A CHIP 2020; 20:2696-2708. [PMID: 32633746 DOI: 10.1039/d0lc00064g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) constitutes an important model organism for use in nutrition and aging studies. We report a novel method for studying the dynamics of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacterial transit through the worms' intestine. A microfluidic chip was designed for alternating C. elegans on-chip culture and immobilization, thereby enabling periodic high-resolution time-lapse imaging at single-worm resolution over several days. Immobilization was achieved in a reversible way using arrays of tapered channels suitable for assay parallelization. Dedicated C. elegans feeding protocols were applied. Two E. coli bacterial strains, HT115 and OP50, respectively labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and red fluorescent protein (RFP), were used as food source and imaged with fluorescence microscopy techniques to measure relevant parameters of the bacterial transit process. Feeding behavior and E. coli transit dynamics in the whole intestinal tract of the worms were characterized in an automated way over the first 3 days of adulthood, revealing both fast transit phenomena and variations in microbial accumulation. In particular, we studied the bacterial food transit periodicity in wild-type and eat-2 (ad465) mutant C. elegans strains in both trapped and free-swimming conditions. In order to further demonstrate the versatility of our microfluidic platform, we also studied drug-induced modifications of the bacterial transit by measuring the response of the worms' intestine to exposure to the neurotransmitter serotonin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vittorio Viri
- Laboratory of Microsystems, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Novel Polymeric Nanocarriers Reduced Zinc and Doxycycline Toxicity in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Antioxidants (Basel) 2019; 8:antiox8110550. [PMID: 31739428 PMCID: PMC6912483 DOI: 10.3390/antiox8110550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Revised: 11/07/2019] [Accepted: 11/12/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The objective was to evaluate the toxicity of zinc- and doxycycline-loaded polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism. These NPs are composed of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate and methacrylic acid. NPs were loaded with doxycycline (D-NPs) and zinc (Zn-NPs) by chemical adsorption, and loading efficacy was demonstrated. Worm death rate in a concentration-response curve basis was calculated for lethality. Metabolism was evaluated through pharyngeal pumping assay. Body length measurements, brood size and egg lays were used to gauge growth, reproduction and fertility respectively. Intracellular hydrogen peroxide levels were determined to assess the reactive oxygen species production. One-way ANOVA and Bonferroni were used for comparisons (p < 0.05). Tested NPs at the highest dosage did not affect lethality or worm metabolism, expressed in terms of death rate and pharyngeal pumping per minute, respectively. Zn-NPs slightly increased worm growth. The concentration of the intracellular hydrogen peroxide levels was the lowest in the D-NPs group. The distinct NPs and concentrations employed were shown to be non-toxic for in situ administration of zinc and doxycycline, reducing the harmful effects of these compounds.
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Cui P, Wang S. Application of microfluidic chip technology in pharmaceutical analysis: A review. J Pharm Anal 2018; 9:238-247. [PMID: 31452961 PMCID: PMC6704040 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpha.2018.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 144] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2018] [Revised: 11/29/2018] [Accepted: 12/04/2018] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of pharmaceutical analytical methods represents one of the most significant aspects of drug development. Recent advances in microfabrication and microfluidics could provide new approaches for drug analysis, including drug screening, active testing and the study of metabolism. Microfluidic chip technologies, such as lab-on-a-chip technology, three-dimensional (3D) cell culture, organs-on-chip and droplet techniques, have all been developed rapidly. Microfluidic chips coupled with various kinds of detection techniques are suitable for the high-throughput screening, detection and mechanistic study of drugs. This review highlights the latest (2010–2018) microfluidic technology for drug analysis and discusses the potential future development in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Cui
- School of Pharmacy, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, #76, Yanta West Road, Xi'an 710061, China.,Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Cardiovascular Drugs Screening & Analysis, Xi'an 710061, China
| | - Sicen Wang
- School of Pharmacy, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, #76, Yanta West Road, Xi'an 710061, China.,Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Cardiovascular Drugs Screening & Analysis, Xi'an 710061, China
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Migliozzi D, Cornaglia M, Mouchiroud L, Uhlmann V, Unser MA, Auwerx J, Gijs MAM. Multimodal imaging and high-throughput image-processing for drug screening on living organisms on-chip. JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL OPTICS 2018; 24:1-9. [PMID: 30484295 PMCID: PMC6987638 DOI: 10.1117/1.jbo.24.2.021205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2018] [Accepted: 11/02/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
A major step for the validation of medical drugs is the screening on whole organisms, which gives the systemic information that is missing when using cellular models. Caenorhabditis elegans is a soil worm that catches the interest of researchers who study systemic physiopathology (e.g., metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases) because: (1) its large genetic homology with humans supports translational analysis; (2) worms are much easier to handle and grow in large amounts compared with rodents, for which (3) the costs and (4) the ethical concerns are substantial. Here, we demonstrate how multimodal optical imaging on such an organism can provide high-content information relevant to the drug development pipeline (e.g., mode-of-action identification, dose-response analysis), especially when combined with on-chip multiplexing capability. After designing a microfluidic array to select small separated populations of C. elegans, we combine fluorescence and bright-field imaging along with high-throughput feature recognition and signal detection to enable the identification of the mode-of-action of an antibiotic. For this purpose, we use a genetically encoded fluorescence reporter of mitochondrial stress, which we studied in living specimens during their entire development. Furthermore, we demonstrate real-time, very large field-of-view capability on multiplexed motility assays for the assessment of the dose-response relation of an anesthetic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Migliozzi
- Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratory of Microsystems, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Matteo Cornaglia
- Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratory of Microsystems, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Laurent Mouchiroud
- Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Virginie Uhlmann
- Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Michael A. Unser
- Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Johan Auwerx
- Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Martin A. M. Gijs
- Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratory of Microsystems, Lausanne, Switzerland
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